Military And Intelligence News Briefs — May 15, 2019

Germany’s Bundeswehr has halted its military training exercises in Iraq amid heightened tensions in the region. The US has put troops on high alert and removed nonemergency diplomatic staff from Baghdad and Erbil.

The German army has suspended its training operations in Iraq as regional tension grows, the Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

“The German army has suspended the training,” ministry spokesman Jens Flosdorff said. There was “generally heightened alert, awareness” for soldiers currently operating in the region, he added but said training could be resumed within a few days as there was “no concrete threat” at the moment.

Germany was “orienting itself toward our partner countries, which have taken this step,” Flosdorff said.